Transponder Trouble

[Frankie777]

I had D* installed about 6 months ago and everything worked fine. About 3 months ago I stopped receiving ESPN HD on Ch. 73. All my other channels (including HD channels seem to work fine). The information I have is that ESPN HD is now on transponder B-28. I get a 0 reading on that transponder on all four wires coming out of my dish. I have replaced the LNB and my multiswitch, and have tried connecting each line directly to the receiver. I have two Hughes HD receivers and they both have the same problem. The message I get is "searching for satellite signal". I have the same problem with one game a week on Sunday Ticket, but it seems like the channel moves.

Does anyone have any ideas? I have had three service calls and no on ehas been able to fix it.

 

[charper1]

Mine all come in fine - have you called D*?

BravoHD, HBO-HD, HDNet and Discovery HD all come from the same bird as ESPN-HD so that rules out not pointing correct if you say you get all those. Can you test another HD receiver that you know gets ESPN-HD?

 

[Frankie777]

I have had numerous conversations with D* and 3 service calls. D* even sent me a new STB just in case both of mine had gone bad. The new STB had the same problem. All other HD channels work. It's driving me crazy.

 

[CablerMN]

I have replaced the LNB and my multi switch

I gather from this statement that you have a DirecTV Plus or Para Todos dish with three individual LNB positions and a separate 4x4 multi-switch. If that is the case, do you have two or three LNBs installed? If only two you will not be able to receive all the HD programming available. If three, you made no mention of the insertion from the middle LNB (Sat C, only one port on the LNB) onto the 18v side of the 119 LNB wire before the multi-switch.

Please double check your setup and report back.

 

[Frankie777]

Hmmm...that's a new one. I have an oval dish with 3 LNB's installed and a 5x8 Terk multiswitch. Explain to me what you are asking, I am not really a techie, just learning. There are only 4 wires coming out of my dish. Are you saying there should be 5 (2 Sat A, 2 Sat B, 1 Sat C)? Or are you saying that it is possible the wires are connected to the wrong sockets on the dish?

 

[CablerMN]

Two ports on 101 LNB - SatA
One port on the 110 LNB - SatC (this is a non-standard LNB)
Two Ports on the 119 LNB - SatB

The line from the 110 LNB gets combined (special combiner that looks like a two way splitter) with the +18v side of the 119 LNB before it hits the multiswitch (+18v side with 22KHz tone). Unless they jammed the combiner up inside the tube, I'd take it apart and inspect it a little further.

Here is a link to a Sat-C kit picture:
http://www.terk.com/installation/product/satc.html

 

[Frankie777]

It turns out, I have a Phase III dish, so there is no combiner. Any other ideas?

 

[sksatellite]

what is the signal quality on all TPs.

 

[deezoneezo]

Have you verified in the menu that it is set for a 3 lnb dish? Also I don't think I understand why it is running through a multi-switch. How many televisions do you have? If the only reason you have a multiswitch is because it's in a wiring closet try bypassing it. The lnb has it's own multi so try running one line to one receiver one to the other.

 

[Frankie777]

The signal quality on all the other transponders is in the 80's and 90's, except for:

Sat A 27 = 50
Sat A 28 = 0
Sat B 27 = 0
Sat B 28 = 0
Sat B 31 = 30

I have verified that it is set for a 3 lnb oval dish. I have tried running the lines directly to the STB, and it doesn't seem to make any difference. The weird thing is that the only transponders that have a zero are both 28's. Coincidence?

 

[robert luzzi]

all transponders have to be at least 70 and ideally 88 plus.

that phase 111 dish is either out alignment or the tilt is very wrong

......bob

 

[fkostyn]

I agree - your signals should be much higher on the transponders. I tend 90-99 on my transponders.

 

[al]

Frankie

What is the length of your cable run? What type of cable is run? RG6 or Quad? Solid Copper conductor or copper clad steel?

I had a similar problem to yours that turned out to be excessive cable length. If you are hitting 90's on other transponders, and are getting some transponders but not others on the same satellite, it is most likely a wiring problem, and not a tilt or aiming error.

Best of Luck

Alan

 

[Frankie777]

The cable is Monster RG6 (a bit thicker than normal RG6, but I don't know what exactly it is). It is run from my roof to my basement relatively directly (about 60 feet). I was getting ESPN HD for the first 3 months after D* was installed. Then for no apparent reason it just stopped.

If it was just the tilt, wouldn't I get something (20, 30 ,40...) on B-28? The fact that it is zero and is always zero makes me think it is something electrical in my system.

 

[Frankie777]

The D* repairmen came out again yesterday and replaced the LNB again with no effect. He is sure that the problem is my neighbors tree. It just seems odd to me that a tree could affect one transponder on the 119 satellite, but not any of the others.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[fkostyn]

Its entirely possible - I myself am "watching" a tree that is starting to grow into my 119 area (I'm just being lazy and delaying moving the dish).

I have also had customers that tried to "Self install" a phase three between houses - and would not get the 119 satellite.